Not Just Pranks and Tricks
by Time to Daydream
Summary: There is a new threat in Berk, but the gang doesn't know exactly what it is. While trying to figure it out, a certain troublemaker is falling for a visitor.
1. Usual Morning

Chapter 1: Usual Morning

**Hey everyone, I decided to rewrite A Tuff Love because I wasn't very pleased with it. However, i****t still focuses on Tuffnut's and Erica's relationship. I changed most of the story for those who read the other one before.**

**To those who haven't read ****The Erica Assignment ****(a FanFic I wrote a couple of months ago), I suggest you do because it explains how Erica got to Berk. If you choose to read it, read chapter 20 and then come here. Although, you don't have to if you don't want to. **

**Now, on with the story.**

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Erica's Point of View:

Morning had come and I was slowly waking up. I rubbed my eyes and pushed the blanket away. I got out of bed, pulled on my fur boots and started brushing my hair. I braided my long, dark locks and carefully wrapped my leather hairband on my forehead.

I walked out of the small room that was in the back of the chief's house. When I reached the front, I saw Hiccup and his dad were eating breakfast.

"Erica, you're awake. Would you care to join us?" Stoick offered.

"Sure." I accepted and sat down on a stool next to Hiccup. I noticed that they were eating oatmeal. I looked at it hungrily and my stomach let out a growl.

"Would you like some?" asked Stoick.

"Y-Yes please," I said sheepishly. Stoick stood up and went over to served me a bowl.

"Good morning." Hiccup greeted.

His voice snapped me out of my daydreaming of food. "Oh. Good morning, Hiccup."

"You're really hungry, aren't you?"

"Well, I did skip dinner last night." I said, referring to my late flight with my Scauldron. We flew over the ocean in the night. It was a beautiful scene. The dark sky was lit up with stars and below the ocean.

Stoick placed a bowl in front of me. The steam and aroma hit my face and made my mouth water. I grabbed the wooden spoon and started stuffing my face.

"Alright, I have to go do my job as chief. I'll see you two later." Stoick said as he walked out the door.

"Bye." Hiccup and I said in unison.

"What are you going to do after breakfast?" I asked the brunette between mouthfuls, trying to create a conversation.

"Go on my usual, morning flight with Toothless before training." he answered. "What about you?"

"I don't really know." I admitted. "I didn't really plan anything for today."

"Would you and Whirlpool like to join us?"

"That would be nice." I responded. "But let's finish our breakfast first."

Hiccup nodded in agreement and both of us gulped down our oatmeal.

...

I walked out of Hiccup's house, carrying a basket full of fish for my Scauldron.

"Hey there, sleepy-head." I whispered to my dragon. He slowly woke up to the sound of my voice and looked at me. "Are you hungry?" I asked. "Here," I placed the basket of fish in front of him.

I watched him as he ate and once he finished, I adjusted my saddle on his neck.

"Want to go for a flight, Whirlpool?" I questioned. "We're going to go with Hiccup this morning." As if on cue, Hiccup appeared with his Night Fury.

"Ready?" he asked.

"We're ready." I smirk after I climbed onto Whirlpool.

"Good, let's go." he said and took off. We sprang into the air after the dragon trainer.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, after I caught up to him.

"Well, I thought that we can just fly around the island and relax for awhile." he explained. "By the way, how are you getting along with Whirlpool?"

"We're getting along just fine. Aren't we buddy?" I patted his head. "We have really bonded over the past few days."

"I'm glad to hear that." he said before everything grew silent, except for the wind. "So, when are planning to leave and head home?"

"I don't know." I frowned. "Soon, I suppose. My family must be worried." I sighed.

"I bet they are. Especially since their daughter ran away in the middle of the night and they had no clue on where she ran off to."

"Hey!" I shouted, clearly offended. I would have punched him if I could. "It's not like you wouldn't have done the same thing." I huffed as I crossed my arms.

"No, you're right. I probably would have done the same thing." he smiled but then it faded away. "Do you miss them?"

"Of course I do. I mean, yea, they yell at me for doing wrong and not listening to them, but they're still my family." I said sadly, but truthfully. "Sometimes," I started again after a long pause. "I wish that they could come to Berk, to see how much I accomplished."

"To see that you can do great things?"

"Exactly." I said, imagining their proud faces.

"Don't worry. You'll get your time to shine." he assured me. I smiled at his compliment, but before I got to say anything, Fishlegs came up behind us on Meatlug.

"Hiccup! Hey Hiccup!" he shouted. "Your dad is looking for you. I think you should go see what he needs."

"Of course he is." he murmured. "Do you know where he is?" he asked.

"He's in the middle of town." Fishlegs answered.

"Got it. Anyways, can you stay with Erica while I go see my dad?"

"Actually-"

"It's okay, Hiccup." I interrupted. "You go on. I'll be fine on my own. How much trouble can I get into?"

"Plenty." he answered. "Maybe even worse than the twins."

"Come on, Hiccup." I smirked. "No one can be worse than the twins."

"She's right about that." Fishlegs added.

"Look, just go. I'll be fine by myself. Plus, I need some time to myself." I told him.

"Alright." Hiccup gave in. "I'll see you later in the arena."

I waved at the boys as they flew back to the village. I then flew down to the beach with Whirlpool. I climbed off my dragon and walked down the beach deep in thought. I was thinking about my conversation with Hiccup about my family.I wanted to go home to see them, I_ really_ did, but I didn't want to go back to being ignored. Here at Berk, I made _actual _friends and felt at home.

**BOOM**

I heard that the commotion was coming from the forest. I did the only thing I could. I climbed on Whirlpool and went to check it out.


	2. Crushing

Chapter 2: Crushing

Tuffnut's Point of View:

There was a huge hole in the dirt that Ruffnut and I caused. We were just goofing off with our dragons and accidently set off an explosion.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" I asked my sister.

"I don't know. Maybe,"she answered. "It was pretty loud. We should go, before we get in trouble." I nodded at her statement and we flew away from the forest. We landed in the middle of the village, which was empty. There wasn't a single trace of anyone being there. Everything was quiet and calm.

"Where did everyone go?" my twin asked.

"I have no idea." I answered.

"Do you think they went to check out the explosion we caused?"

I shrugged at her and asked, "Should we set up some pranks?"

"Nah, everyone will know it was us." she answered. "Let's go to the arena. Training is going to start soon."

"Fine," I huffed. I wasn't too thrilled about training. However, it was better than doing nothing. We took off into the air again and headed towards the arena.

When we entered, Snotlout and Hookfang were the only ones there.

"Snotlout, where is everyone?" I asked him.

"They went to inspect some _lame _explosion. Probably just some stupid dragon."

I turned to face my twin sister and she had a mischievous grin on her face. I returned the expression, fascinated that we caused that big of a commotion. A few moments after, everyone started coming in. Hiccup, Erica, Astrid, and Fishlegs climbed off their dragons and started discussing.

"Who do you think could have done that?" Erica asked Hiccup.

"Do you think the Outcasts are back?" Astrid questioned.

"It doesn't seem likely. The hole seemed to caused by a dragon." Fishlegs answered Astrid's question. When he said the word 'dragon' Erica looked in the direction of us. She frowned and turned away. She probably thought it was us.

"Whatever it was, we need to figure it out." Hiccup told them.

"Maybe, we should go check it out again." Erica suggested. "We can see if we can find of anything that might have caused it." The others nodded in agreement.

We flew out of the arena, over the trees and landed on the forest floor. The first thing I noticed was that there was a enormous hole in the dirt. The trees nearby were on scattered on the floor like sticks. There were scorch marks on the dirt.

"This isn't our explosion." I whispered to my sister.

"No kidding."

We all started searching for anything that might lead us to knowing who or what might have done this. In the end, we found nothing, except burning grass and wood, and decided to go back to the arena.

Once we returned, Hiccup decided that we continue our usual dragon training.

"Okay, so here is what I think we should do for today's training exercise." he started. "Since everyone pretty much trusts their dragon, you feel like they will be there for you at all times. But what if they aren't there with you? So, I thought that we should learn how to trust each other and each other's dragons."

"A-And, how are we going to do that?" Fishlegs asked.

"We'll each pretend to be in a dangerous situation without our dragon, but someone else will be there with theirs." he explained. "Now, let's get started." He climbed onto his Night Fury and flew out. Then, we each did the same and followed him.

We landed close to the edge of a cliff in the forest. Below it was a small lake.

Hiccup, Astrid, and Stormfly went up first.

"Alright, so, I'm being chased by an angry dragon and it leads me to the edge of a cliff. The only chance of me getting away is Astrid catching me when I jump. Got it?"

"Got it." repeated Astrid.

"Alright." Hiccup smiled. "Snotlout, would you and Hookfang do the honor of being the wild dragon?"

"With pleasure." Snotlout smirked and started firing at Hiccup.

"Hey! Watch it!" he shouted as he backed away from the shots. Snotlout ignored him and continued shooting. Hiccup was near the edge and jumped before the fire hit him. Luckily, Astrid was ready to catch him.

"Got you." she smiled at him. He smiled back as she helped him onto Stormfly.

"Alright. You guys understand?" he asked once he was back on the ground and we all nodded. "Alright. Erica, you're up with the twins."

"You want to kill me, don't you?" she murmured.

"Come on. It's not that bad." he said. She just rolled her eyes and sighed angrily. She clearly was still mad about the little event a few days ago.

"You better not try to kill me." she told Snotlout.

Soon, everyone was into position. Snotlout and Hookfang shot at her feet and slowly made her way towards the end of the cliff. We were hovering on our Zippleback, waiting. She saw she had no where else to step and her only choice was to jump. She looked at us, deciding whether she should trust us or not.


	3. No Trust

Chapter 3: No Trust

Erica's Point of View:

I looked down at the lake down below. I kind of preferred to jump off the cliff and into the water, instead of hoping that the twins would catch me.

I really didn't trust them after a certain event that caused some problems.

* * *

_"What are you two doing?" I asked._

_Both them turned around and looked at me._

_"Nothing." Ruffnut answered._

_"Come on Tuff." her brother said. "I think she can keep a secret."_

_"What secret?" I asked eagerly, now interested in what they were up to._

_"Fine." Ruffnut huffed. "We're playing a trick on someone and-"_

_"On who?" I interrupted._

_"That doesn't matter right." she replied, before she continued explaining what they were doing. "We are hiding these objects all over Berk to mess with someone. Now, do you want to help?"_

_"Sure." I answered with a mischievous smirk._

_"Alright. Take this and hide it." she handed me an axe._

_I looked it for a moment. Before I could ask once more on who's it was, Ruffnut told me, "Go on!"_

_"Alright. I'm going." I huffed and walked away. I heard the twins snicker as I was leaving and I knew they were up to no good. Instead of hiding it, like I agreed to do, I decided to see whom it belonged to._

_"I wonder who's this is." I asked myself, once I was far away from the Thorson twins. I sat down on the grass, behind one of the houses, and examined it once more. I had a feeling that I had seen it before, but I just couldn't recognize it._

_I got up and tried to look for its owner. I wondered around town, struggling with the idea of who's axe it was that I didn't paying attention to were I was going. I bumped into someone._

_"Hey, watch it." Astrid growled as she turned around to see me. "Oh, it's just you." she smiled, but it faded away. "Wait is that my axe?" she pointed at the weapon in my hands._

_I then remembered that it was hers. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten, especially since I used it all afternoon yesterday._

_"So you're the crook that stole it." she crossed her arms._

_"What? No," I responded. "It wa-"_

_But the blonde didn't allow me to explain myself. Instead, she cut me off by saying, "Don't try to pin it on someone else." Then she snatched her axe from my hands and murmured, "I thought we were friends."_

Even though, Astrid and I made up for that, I was still angry at the twins for tricking me.

* * *

"Come on. You better jump before Snotlout bursts you into flames." Ruffnut said.

"Fine," I huffed and jumped. Each of the twins were holding out a hand for me to grab. I grasped their hands and they hoisted me onto their Zippleback. Tuffnut shot me a smile and I just ignored him. We flew back to the group on the cliff. I felt a lot more safer on the ground than being in the air with the twins.

"Nice job, guys." Hiccup told us. "I hope you are learning to trust each other."

'Not really.' I thought and walked to my Scauldron.

"Okay, next up is-" Hiccup started to say.

**_R O A R_**

We all turned around to see birds flying away from a certain spot in the forest. We could also see some smoke rising up in the air.

"It's back." I mumbled.

We all scurried onto our dragons and flew to the direction the noise as quick as we could.


	4. Nightmare

Chapter 4: Nightmare

**Do I have to ****_bribe_**** you readers to get you to leave some reviews? They would be nice you know.**

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Erica's Point of View:

We landed on the forest floor and jumped off our dragons' backs.

In front of us, a Monstrous Nightmare. The beast was larger than Hookfang, which probably meant that it was older. Its scales were an emerald green, but it still had the black pattern like Hookfang. It also had long claws and horns. It was a majestic dragon and I couldn't help noticing how it destroyed the forest. It blew out fire, which caused us to jump back. It seemed to be angry, since it was destroying everything in its path.

"Cool." the twins whispered.

I turned around and gave them an _are-you-serious _look. I then decided to ignore them and turned around to ask Hiccup, "What do we do now?"

"Let's see if we can train it." he answered.

He started walking towards the dragon, while we stood there watching. The dragon seemed to sense Hiccup coming because it turned around. Its eyes lit up with anger when they landed on him and it let out a deep growl. It started crawling towards slowly and cautiously.

"It's okay." Hiccup whispered. "We're friends." he held out his hand and was slowly reaching out to the snout of the dragon. The dragon freaked out and knocked Hiccup over with its tail.

He landed on the floor with a loud _**thud**._ Fortunately, he fell by Astrid, who helped the brunette to his feet.

"Stormfly, spine shot." she commanded. Her dragon obeyed and whipped her tail to release spikes. Toothless hit the wild beast with plasma blasts. "Are you alright?" she asked Hiccup.

"Yes, I'm fine." he told her as he rubbed his side.

Meanwhile, the Monstrous Nightmare let out a small roar and took off flying.

"Should we follow it?" Fishlegs asked. Everyone looked at the young Viking, expecting an answer.

He stayed silent for a while, thinking if whether we should go after it.

"Look," I interrupted the silence. "I'm going after it. I'm going to see of it can be trained."

"Erica, you saw how it flung Hiccup. I really don't think that dragon it trainable." Astrid explained. "So, don't bother going after it."

I ignored her advice and crawl onto my dragon. Once I was on my saddle, I said, "Well, I'm going to at least try."

...

I soared above the forest on Whirlpool, searching for the green monster. It was a difficult job, since most of the forest was green. I finally spotted it, bursting the trees up in flames against a mountain side. It still seemed to be pissed off.

We started flying towards the creature, when I heard several wings flapping behind me. I turned to face the gang behind me on their dragons.

"You don't think we would leave you to do something by yourself, did you?" Hiccup smiled.

"I have my doubts." I smirked. Hiccup's smiled faded and I grinned. "I'm just joking. I knew you'd all come." I then stopped playing around and focused on the dragon. "Alright, so the dragon is over there, by the side of the mountain."

"And what do you suggest that we do?" Astrid asked.

"Um, well, I was planning to land behind it and just wing it." I admitted.

"Just wing it?" Astrid repeated. "Are you serious?"

"It doesn't matter, Astrid. We'll think of something." Hiccup blurted out.

...

We did as I suggested, which was to land behind it. The dragon luckily didn't hear us, since it was in the middle of destroying the forest. We slid off our dragons and tried to come up with something.

"Should we try to confront it again?" Fishlegs asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know. It didn't work last time." Astrid whispered.

"We can always try again." I shrugged.

"Erica's right. It wouldn't hurt to try once more." Hiccup said.

"But what if it does the same thing again?" Astrid questioned.

"Well, then that's that." I scoffed. "Unless you have a better idea."

"No, I don't have a better idea." she finally said, after waiting for her to answer.

The dragon turned around to Astrid's angry tone. It let out a **roar** and engulfed its own body up in flames.

"You still want to confront it?" Astrid asked.

"Um, no, but Snotlout does." I answered sheepishly. "I mean he does own a Monstrous Nightmare."

"Why me? And just because I have one, it doesn't mean he listens to me." Snotlout said. "Why don't you do it, Erica? You're the one who brought us here."

"Hey! I didn't tell you to follow me. I would have been fine on my own." I argued.

"She's right." Tuffnut nodded. "It was Hiccup who made us come here."

"Yea." agreed Ruffnut.

"Look it doesn't matter." Hiccup interrupted. "Let's just go and leave the dragon alone."

No one disagreed and everyone climbed onto their dragon. All except me.

"You guys go on, but I'm _not _leaving." I told them. "Not until, this dragon gets trained." I started proceeding slowly toward the flaming beast. It back away from me towards the side of the mountain. "It's okay." I whispered. "I don't want to hurt you."

The monster stopped once it was against the rocky surface. It's eyes showed signs of fear and I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I should keep trying to tame it. However, I kept going and placed my small hand on its green snout.

It seemed to relax for a moment, before it widen it eyes and realized it contact with me. It let out a deep growl and backed away from it.

"It's alright." I repeated over and over. However, the dragon ignored my words and let out another growl. I saw it move its snake-like tail, but didn't have much time to react. Before I knew it, I was flying through the air. My back hit the mountain side and a pain shot through my body. I let out a cry of agony, before my view turned black.

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**I hope this chapter was good enough to receive some reviews. **


	5. Feelings Revealed

Chapter 5: Feelings Revealed

Tuffnut's Point of View:

I was very worried about Erica. She hit herself pretty hard against the side of the mountain. Every once in a while, I would ask Ruffnut to go see how she was.

It was the afternoon of the day after our adventure in the woods and I asked my sister, for the hundredth time, "Can you go see if Erica has awaken?"

She looked at me and noticed my worried expression. "Look Tuff." she started. "I think it would be best if you see her yourself."

I just nodded and decided to do as she said. I walked up to the door of Hiccup's house and stood there hesitating, before I knocked. The door opened and I was greeted by Hiccup.

"Hey Tuff. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to see how you're doing." I answered.

"I'm fine." he told me.

"That's good." I replied and we stood there in awkward silence, before I asked, "How's Erica?"

"She's still unconscious." he explained.

"Can I see her?" I questioned.

"Sure. Come on in." he gestured for my to enter. "I'll show you where she is."

He lead me to the back of the house and into a small room. He pushed a long piece of cloth that was used for a door and revealed the unconscious girl. I walked in and saw her laying on the bed, perfectly still.

Her skin was paler than usual and she had a few cut and bruises her and there, but I thought she still looked pretty.

Hiccup interrupted my thoughts when he asked, "You don't mind staying here a while, do you Tuff? I just want to go on a quick flight with Toothless."

I noticed he had a tired expression and concluded that he was probably up all night, caring for the visitor.

"Go ahead. I don't mind." I told the brunette. "Take as long as you'd like."

"Thanks, Tuff." he smiled and left. I heard him and his Night Fury scuttle out the front door, where a long flight awaited them. Once they were gone, everything was quiet.

The only sound I heard was Erica's faint breathing.

I plopped down on the wooden chair beside her bed and stared at her. I didn't have a clue on what to do.

'Maybe I should go.' I thought as I was standing up. "Oh waited. I promised Hiccup that I would stay here." I muttered and plopped back onto the chair. I looked at her again and saw her bangs covering her face. I pushed them away with my index finger and stared at her pale face.

She had a few cuts on her face and one or two bruises, here and there. Even with those things on her face, in my eyes she looked beautiful.

"I can't believe you actually did that." I told the unconscious girl as I looked at her. "You're really crazy to have done that. I mean, Hiccup has done crazy stunts like that, but you-" I chuckled nervously as I remembered the event.

I knew she couldn't hear me, but it was nice to speak without getting criticized by everyone.

I told her how after she blacked out, everyone started attacking the Monstrous Nightmare. Especially her Scauldron. He was the one who did the most attacking. We all drove the dragon off the island. Then, Hiccup and Toothless carried her back here.

Once I finished storytelling, I sighed. "Hiccup's still not back." 'Well, you did tell him to take as long as he'd like.' I thought and frowned. I then looked back at Erica and remembered how I was crushing on her when she first arrived. I would always daydream about her during training, and my sister would punch me to snap me back to reality.

My sister was the only one who knew that I liked Erica. She would always make fun of me when Erica was around, just to humiliate me. Although, she did that to me, she would also push me to tell Erica about how I liked her.

"Only if you knew how I felt right now." I murmured to myself. 'Why don't you tell her?' I thought. 'She won't hear or say anything. You can spill your thoughts right now. It'll be good for you to get it out of your system.' "Yea," I blurted out loud and clamped my hand over my mouth.

I glanced at the dark-haired Viking and saw she hadn't moved. I let out a sigh and started blabbing.

"Well, first of all, when Hiccup introduced you to the gang, I thought you were going to be one of those snobby girls. But then as I got to know you, I learned that you were really cool. You like destroying things and pulling pranks. And I think that's when I started developing a crush on you. But then I noticed that you were smart and thought you would feel the same way. Since, I'm not the sharpest sword in the barrel."

I let out a sigh and stared at the floorboards, before I continued.

"Then, that day when you said that we tricked you and ruined you friendship with Astrid, I felt like you would **never**, in a million years, feel the same way about me like I feel about you. But still, I kept looking and thinking about you. For some reason, whenever I thought about you or heard your name, I would feel a fuzzy feeling. So even if you didn't like me back, I would be fine if we were just friends." I smiled as I finished my talking.

I felt a huge weight lifted of my shoulders and I smiled at the floor.

Suddenly, I heard a faint voice say, "Really?"

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**So what did you guys think? Do you think it was good? Remember to leave a review.**


	6. Friends For Now

Chapter 6: Friends For Now

I was awaked to his shouted 'yes'. Although, I pretended to still be unconscious and tried to stay as still as I could. I had heard everything that Tuffnut just revealed. I couldn't believe he said all of thatl. By the end of his speech, I wondered if what he had said was true.

'Only one way to find out.' I thought and spoke up.

He turned to the sound of my voice and a smile appeared on his lips. Not one of those mischievous smiles he always wore; but a kind, caring smile.

"You're awake." he said.

"Yea, I'm awake." I smiled as I tried to sit up. "Gah!" I screamed as a pain shot through my side.

"Are you okay?" he asked, unsure of what to do.

"Yea. Just a little sore." I assured him. "I'll be fine, though." After a while of silence, I asked," Did you really mean what you said? About liking me?"

"Yes," he blushed slightly. "I did mean it. **Everything**." I couldn't help but smile at his response. "And if you don't feel the same way, that's fine. Like I said before, 'we can just be friends'."

I wanted to tell him that I felt the same way, but I couldn't. I mean, I did have feelings for him, but they were not as strong like his feelings towards me.

"Look Tuff." I started. "I don't want to lie to you by saying that I don't like you. But I don't want to put you expectations by saying that I love you. What I mean is that I do have feelings towards you, but just not as strong as yours towards me. So, let's just stay friends for now and see what come our way. Okay?"

I wasn't sure how he was going to take it, but he seemed pleased with it.

"Sounds good. At least, you're giving me another chance." he smiled and sat down on the bed at my feet. "Just promise me one thing." he said. "Yu won't tell anyone about this."

I nodded and assured him that I wouldn't. However, that didn't stop me from wondering why he wanted to keep it a secret. I wanted to ask, but instead kept quiet.

He then helped me out of bed and out to the front door. I was about to open the door, when Hiccup and Toothless came in.

"Erica, you're up. How are you feeling?" the brunette asked.

"As good as a person, who has been flung against the side of a mountain, can feel." I answered.

"Well, okay." he said unsure of how to respond to my comment. "Wait shouldn't you be in bed, resting?"

"Yea, no. I can't stay still for too long. I get bored and restless. So, I'm going for a walk with Tuff."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked as if I had made the worst possible choice ever.

"Yes," I answered. "You can join us, if you'd like." I said. He accepted and we made our way to the village. Toothless trailed along and so did Whirlpool. We later flew to the academy, where everyone was waiting.

They were all glad to see that I was up. Then, we continued with our usual training. With every moment, I felt my strength coming back.

By the end of the day, I was happy to know how many people cared about me.

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**That's the end of this story, folks. I hope you enjoyed it and remember to review.**


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